Ice Cold Basics

Chin-ups: Repeating Week 2 Day 2
Push-ups: Repeating Week 1 Day 2
Squats: Week 3 Day 2

Intu-Flow warm up routine from the BB4FL 7 minutes.

Plan: 5 Rounds with 120 second rest between rounds

Assisted Chin-ups 3, Australian Pull-up 5, Assisted Chin-ups 3, Australian Pull up 4,  then 1 Negative Chin-up
Push-ups 6,8,6,6 max ( at least 7)
Squats 19,25,19,19, max ( at least 25 )

Actual: 5 Rounds with 120 second rest between rounds

Assisted Chin-ups 3, Australian Pull-up 5, Assisted Chin-ups 3, Australian Pull up 4,  then 1 Max Hang & Negative Chin-up
Push-ups 6,8,6,6 max => 12
Squats 19,25,19,19, max => 32

19:16 minutes to complete the five rounds.

I postponed the ab work and yoga until later so I could make it to work on time.I did rounds 2 and 4 outside in the 33F air where I have a better set up for the Australians.

Later in the day: 6 Minute Abs

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

Actually finished abs in 7:12 Total time for calisthenics and abs 26 minutes. My abs were cramping like mad after the crunches.

Prasara Yoga cool down 14 minutes.

Was invigorated, loose and just feeling good after yoga. Want to feel better? Yoga is highly recommended.

Day Off and then Lift Heavy Things

Today's workout began with nine minute Intu-Flow warmup routine from The Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss. I followed that with the following giant set warm up. I did two sets of five reps each. The brief warm up giant set came from Turbulence Training.

• Lying Hip Extensions
• Knee Push Ups
• Stability Ball Leg Curls

I then did two circuits of the following exercise which are from the Primal Blueprint Fitness Lift Heavy Things program. I rested for thirty to sixty seconds between exercises.

1. Knee Push Ups 30, 27
2. 2 Leg Assisted Pull Ups 20, 20
3. Assisted Squats 50, 50
4. Elevated Jack Knife 25, 25
5. Knee-Hand Plank & Side Planks 65-45L-45R,  65-40R-40L (seconds)

Knee push ups first set 20+7+3=30, 17+6+4. Pull ups 20 straight, 13+7. squats 50 straight, 50 straight. EJK 25 straight. 21+4=25 ( mental fatigue more than physical ). Total time 34 minutes plus 4 minutes for the giant set warm up. going to have to skip the Prasara Yoga cool down for now. Miles and I are going to a Furman Football game. Got to shower and jet!

20121004 Lift Heavy Things

Today's workout began with nine minute Intu-Flow warmup routine from The Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss. I followed that with the following giant set warm up as I need to be particularly careful to get fully warmed up and loosened up before tackling any real work. I did two sets of five reps each. The brief warm up giant set came from Turbulence Training.

• Lying Hip Extensions
• Knee Push Ups
• Stability Ball Leg Curls

I then did two circuits of the following exercise which are from the Primal Blueprint Fitness Lift Heavy Things program. I rested for thirty to sixty seconds between exercises.

1. Knee Push Ups 26, 20
2. 2 Leg Assisted Pull Ups 20, 20
3. Assisted Squats 40, 40
4. Elevated Jack Knife 25, 25
5. Knee-Hand Plank & Side Planks 60-35R-35L,  60-39L-40R (seconds)

Total time on calisthenics was thirty-four minutes but I again I increased my reps, or time in the case of planks, on each exercise. Push ups were a little better. I still had to take  two quick arm shaking breaks to make it threw my sets. Pull ups only one break per set at 15 rep mark. Squats great improvement. Forty reps per set no leg shaking, just brief pause at the top a couple of times, like 1 or 2 seconds max.

Elevated jack knives first set paused at 20 reps to shake arms and hands out before banging out the last five reps. Second set paused at 19 reps.Planks I equaled my times on the first set. Second set I improved my side plank times by 4 seconds on the left side and 5 seconds on the right side. Now to cool down with some Prasara Yoga. Eighteen minutes total, forty seconds per pose. Slowly getting more flexible. Tomorrow is C25K Week Three Day Three.

20120926 Lift Heavy Things

Today's workout began with nine minute Intu-Flow warmup routine from The Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss. I followed that with the following giant set warm up as I need to be particularly careful to get fully warmed up and loosened up before tackling any real work. I did two sets of five reps each. The brief warm up giant set came from Turbulence Training.

• Lying Hip Extensions
• Knee Push Ups
• Stability Ball Leg Curls

I then did two circuits of the following exercise which are from the Primal Blueprint Fitness Lift Heavy Things program. I rested for thirty to sixty seconds between exercises.

1. Knee Push Ups 25, 18
2. 2 Leg Assisted Pull Ups 20, 20
3. Assisted Squats 30, 35
4. Elevated Jack Knife 25, 25
5. Knee-Hand Plank & Side Planks 60-35L-35R, 60-35R-35L (seconds)

Total time on calisthenics was thirty-two and a half minutes. Two minutes longer than last time, but I did more reps or time on almost every exercise of the work sets. I'm a little disappointed with my push up performance. The goal is two sets of 50. I did increase reps on each set by 3 and 2 respectively.

I feel much better about my pull up performance as the goal here is two sets of twenty reps each. I did that, but I had to pause and shake out my arms a couple of times to get 20. Next time I want to get 20 uninterrupted reps. I didn't check my number of reps for the squats before I started. I thought 30 reps in the first set would beat last week, but it only tied last week. I did get 35 reps the second set. Major challenge with high rep body weight squats is cardiovascular conditioning. Te overall goal for squats is two sets of 50 reps.

On the elevated jack knives I got two sets of 25 reps which met the goal. However, as with the pull ups I had to pause and shake out my arms a couple of times. Next week 25 reps without a pause! I also did better on the planks increasing from 55-30-30 to 60-35-35. I completed my workout with a fifteen minute Prasara Yoga cool down routine. I increased the hold time in each pose from 30 to 35 seconds. The goal is 60 seconds per posture.

20120915-20120916 Prasara Yoga and Lift Heavy Things

Yesterday I did a Prasara Yoga recovery routine. I followed that up with an hour and three quarters of yard work cutting the back yard with a gas powered but human propelled push lawn mower.

Today's workout began with an eight and a half minute Intu-Flow warmup routine from The Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss. I followed that with the following giant set warm up as I need to be particularly careful to get fully warmed up and loosened up before tackling any real work. I did two sets of five reps each. The brief warm up giant set came from Turbulence Training.

• Lying Hip Extensions
• Knee Push Ups
• Stability Ball Leg Curls

I then did two circuits of the following exercise which are from the Primal Blueprint Fitness Lift Heavy Things program. I rested for thirty to sixty seconds between exercises.

1. Knee Push Ups 22, 16
2. 2 Leg Assisted Pull Ups 17, 17
3. Assisted Squats 30, 30
4. Elevated Jack Knife 20, 17
5. Knee-Hand Plank & Side Planks 55-30R-30L, 50-30R-30L (seconds)

Total calisthenics workout time including warm up giant sets was thirty and a half minutes.  I improved at least a little bit on every exercise. The most disappointing exercise is planks. The limiting factor in that exercise is my right shoulder. After the push ups, pull ups and jack knives my right shoulder really feels beat up and weak. Got to work on that. I had hoped that the all in the Intu-Flow and Yoga would be helping with that. I must be patient. And as usual I finished with a fourteen minute  Prasara Yoga cool down routine.

Pirmal Blueprint Fitness Lift Heavy Things 20120826

Today's workout began with an eight and a half minute Intu-Flow warmup routine from The Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss. I followed that with the following giant set warm up as I need to be particularly careful to get fully warmed up and loosened up before tackling any real work. I did two sets of five reps each. The brief warm up giant set came from Turbulence Training.

1. Lying Hip Extensions
2. Knee Push Ups
3. Stability Ball Leg Curls

I then did two circuits of the following exercise which are from the Primal Blueprint Fitness Lift Heavy Things program. I rested for thirty to sixty seconds between exercises.

1. Knee Push Ups 20, 18
2. 2 Leg Assisted Pull Ups 17, 15
3. Assisted Squats 25, 25
4. Elevated Jack Knife 20, 15
5. Knee-Hand Plank & Side Planks 55-35R-35L, 60-35L-35R

 I did my first set of knee push ups in hand release fashion. Second time around my right shoulder was twingy so I did them regular fashion. Hand release means to let your body rest on the floor and pick up your hands from the floor between each rep. I also did my second set of the elevated jack knife before squats. Got a bit confused there. I completed my two warm up giant sets and my two work circuits in twenty-seven minutes. That was three minutes faster than my last time through this routine.

I capped off the days workout with a Prasara Yoga Cool down routine thirteen minutes in length. My total workout time was forty-nine minutes. Tomorrow's workout will be an Intu-Flow recovery routine followed by a Couch to 5K running routine on Tuesday.

One Day Late

Missed my scheduled PBF LHT workout yesterday. On it today! Today my warm up was an Intu-Flow warm-up routine from the Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss, followed by 2 giant sets of the following exercises, five reps per exercise.

Lying Hip Extensions
Knee Push Ups
Stability Ball Leg Curls

The real work out was two circuits of the following five exercises.

1. Knee Push Ups 21, 16 
2. 2 Leg Assisted Pull Ups 17, 15 
3. Assisted Squats 22, 20 
4. Elevated Jack Knife 20, 16 
5. Knee-Hand Plank & Side Planks 50-35L-35R, 60-35R-35L 

I was able to do the two warm-up giant sets and the two circuits in thirty minutes. Finished with the twelve minute Prasara Yoga cool-down routine from the BB4FL. My total time including warm up and cool down was fifty-one minutes.

Two Days in a Row

My planned workout for today was a Prasara Yoga recovery flow from the Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss. It is only eleven minutes long but my body feels well stretched out and invigorated. This is an especially good feeling after sitting at my computer working all morning.

My mix and match fitness routine for the next three weeks will look like the following:

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Couch to 5K (C25K)	Prasara Yoga Recovery Flow (PYRF)	Primal Blueprint Fitness Lift Heavy Things (PBFLHT)	Intu-Flow Recovery (IFR)	C25K	PYRF	PBFLHT
IFR	C25K	PYRF	PBF Sprints and KettleBell Swings (PBFS&KBS)	IFR	C25K	PYRF
PBFLHT	IFR	C25K	PYRF	PBFLHT	IFR	C25K
PYRF	PBFS&KBS	IFR	C25K	PYRF	PBFLHT	IFR

My body doesn't seem to be recovering as quickly in my forties as it did in my twenties or even thirties. Thus I have stretched a complete workout cycle out over twelve days rather than the more traditional seven days. I'll also throw in some walking and swimming in an un-programmed fashion since as long as I don't push hard in either of those activities it is unlikely to interfere with my recovery.

After two or three cycles in this fashion I should be able to compress this schedule somewhat. Then again, it might work so well I don't need to shorten it. Time will tell.

C25K Reboot

Two weeks since my last run. I will not keep doing this. I will be consistent with my workouts.

I started today's workout with a long warmup, the Intu-Flow recovery routine from the Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss. I did this because I intended to do it the day after my Primal Blueprint Lift Heavy Things workout four days ago.

Here's my run for today.

Stage Distance Time Pace WU 360 metres 5:00 13:51 1 133 metres 1:00 7:30 1R 121 metres 1:30 12:21 2 133 metres 1:00 7:30 2R 123 metres 1:30 12:07 3 134 metres 1:00 7:25 3R 117 metres 1:30 12:44 4 134 metres 1:00 7:25 4R 126 metres 1:30 11:49 5 128 metres 1:00 7:47 5R 121 metres 1:30 12:21 6 143 metres 1:00 6:58 6R 133 metres 1:30 11:16 7 135 metres 1:00 7:24 7R 118 metres 1:30 12:37 8 138 metres 1:00 7:14 CD 348 metres 5:00 14:19 Total 1.94 km 18:30 9:30 inc WU/CD 2.65 km 28:30 10:43

Calories burned: 170

Calories burned (including warm up): 255

Pretty good. Almost as fast my last run. I can't believe it's been two weeks since I ran! I finished up the day's exercise with a Prasara Yoga cool down routine supplied as part of the above referenced BB4FL. Tomorrow is a Prasara Yoga recovery routine. The day after that will be another Primal Blueprint Fitness Lift Heavy Things workout.

Back To Primal Blueprint Fitness

So, I haven't recorded a strength workout since 25 March 2012. I think I may have done one or two without recording. Any way, today my warm up is 2 giant sets of the following exercises, five reps per exercise.

1. Lying Hip Extensions
2. Knee Push Ups
3. Stability Ball Leg Curls

The real work out was two circuits of the following five exercises.

1. Knee Push Ups 20, 15
2. 2 Leg Assisted Pull Ups 16, 13
3. Assisted Squats 20, 20
4. Elevated Jack Knife 15, 15
5. Knee-Hand Plank & Side Planks 40-30L-30R, 40-25R-25L

Well that was a decent workout for a 46 year old guy who hasn't done a strength workout in months. I was tempted to throw some kettlebell swings in at the end. However, I figured discretion is the better part of valor at this time. I don't want to over due it and then not workout again for weeks or months.

PBF LHT 9 and C25K Week 5 Day 3

Now this is better. One day off and back to it. I took the boys to the Kroc Center. I still did my normal calisthenics based workout instead of using weights or machines. One exception was I used the assisted pull up machine to offset 115 pounds of my weight. Isaiah used various weight machines and recumbent bike. Miles swam.

Today my warm up is 2 giant sets of the following exercises, five reps per exercise.

1. Lying Hip Extensions
2. Knee Push Ups
3. Stability Ball Leg Curls

The real work out was two circuits of the following five exercises.

1. Knee Push Ups 28,20
2. 2 Leg Assisted Pull Ups 18,13
3. Assisted Squats 25, 25
4. Elevated Jack Knife 20,16
5. Knee-Hand Plank & Side Planks 60-40R-40L, 60-40L-40R

Decent workout. Down to 31 minutes but fewer reps or less time on every exercise except squats. Got to do better next time.

After the above I ran on the rubberized path that is part of the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Miles ran with me! My knees feel fine. It might be worth it drive downtown to run there more often. But I've got to run on the street some as the Running Nerds 5K will not be on a rubberized path! I'm proud of the pace I maintained for twenty minutes. I'm getting better, more fit. My pace was much better than my last run.

miles/yards km/metres

Stage Distance Time Pace WU 372 yards 5:00 23:38 1 1.37 miles 20:00 14:37 CD 381 yards 5:00 23:04 Total 1.37 miles 20:00 14:36 inc WU/CD 1.79 miles 30:00 16:41

PBF LHT 8 and C25K Week 5 Day 2

Five days since my last workout. This inconsistency is not going to get the job done. I've got to get back on track!


Today my warm up is 2 giant sets of the following exercises, five reps per exercise.

1. Lying Hip Extensions
2. Knee Push Ups
3. Stability Ball Leg Curls

The real work out was two circuits of the following five exercises.

1. Knee Push Ups 32, 25
2. 2 Leg Assisted Pull Ups 25, 20
3. Assisted Squats 25, 25
4. Elevated Jack Knife 25, 25
5. Knee-Hand Plank & Side Planks 70-45R-45L, 60-50L-50R

Good workout. Cut one minute off time of last workout, down to 38 minutes even with more reps! Now to go run! I'll report on that later.

So, here finished the Couch to 5K Week Five Day Two workout. It was a five minute warm up walk followed by an eight minute run. Next was another five minute walk followed by an eight minute run. Finished with a five minute cool down walk.I think I did fairly well consider it has been twenty days since my last twenty days since my last distance run.

My times and distances:

miles/yards km/metres

Stage Distance Time Pace WU 362 yards 5:00 24:14 1 977 yards 8:00 14:24 1R 356 yards 5:00 24:41 2 810 yards 8:00 17:21 CD 223 yards 5:00 39:19 Total 1.22 miles 21:00 17:12 inc WU/CD 1.55 miles 31:00 19:57

PBF Lift Heavy Things Workout Seven

I just blew off another couple of weeks of workouts. Now I've only got a month until the Running Nerds 5K in ATL. Got to get busy!

Today my warm up is 2 giant sets of the following exercises, five reps per exercise.

1. Lying Hip Extensions
2. Knee Push Ups
3. Stability Ball Leg Curls

The real work out was two circuits of the following five exercises.

1. Knee Push Ups 25, 22
2. Pull Ups 17,15
3. Assisted Squats 22, 20
4. Elevated Jack Knife 20, 20
5. Knee-Hand Plank & Side Planks 60-50L-50R,   50-30R-30L

I got distracted and missed my first set of Elevated Jack Knives. I did a second set after I completed the last set of plank variations. Total time for today's workout was 39 minutes. I think I'll go get a run in, too.

Couch to 5K Week 5 Day 1

So after twelve days of not doing any distance running, only two sprint workouts, I resumed my Couch to 5K training. Today was a five minute walking warmup followed by intervals of five minutes running and three  minutes walking. Here is the complete break down.

Stage	Distance	Time	Pace
WU	392 yards	5:00	22:25
1	671 yards	5:00	13:06
1R	215 yards	3:00	24:27
2	674 yards	5:00	13:02
2R	226 yards	3:00	23:18
3	643 yards	5:00	13:39
CD	316 yards	5:00	27:45
Total	1.38 miles	21:00	15:10
inc WU/CD	1.79 miles	31:00	17:20

I was only one minute per mile slower than my last outing. Not too bad. I am so looking forward to being able to run smoothly, easily and effortlessly for a few miles. I just need to keep plugging along and it will come.

Back in the Saddle

Seems that the course of a seven day week doing Primal Blueprint Fitness Lift Heavy Things workouts two days, Couch To 5K running three days, and sprinting one day was too much for my body. So, I'm going to stretch those workouts out over twelve days. I will do one of those various types of workouts every other day.

On Tuesday 20120228 I ran sprints. I drove up to the elemenatary school where I ran a couple series of intervals on the softball field. The first series was six sets of running for 30 seconds at 50% speed alternated with 60 seconds of walking. This was followed up with six sets of running for 15 seconds at 75-90% speed alternated with 80 seconds walking.

Today my warm up is 2 giant sets of the following exercises, five reps per exercise.

1. Lying Hip Extensions
2. Knee Push Ups
3. Stability Ball Leg Curls

The real work out was two circuits of the following five exercises.

1. Knee Push Ups 22, 15
2. Pull Ups 15, 15
3. Assisted Squats 20, 20 
4. Elevated Jack Knife 20, 
5. Knee-Hand Plank & Side Planks 45-30L-30R,   45-30R-30L

I think I did a pretty good job considering it had been eleven days since my last PBF LHT workout. I finished up in thirty-six minutes. I will pick up the pace next time and get that down to 30 minutes total.

Primal Blueprint Fitness Sprint Workout Four

I ran my sprints today during my lunch break at about 1300 hours. Part of the spot where I planned to run had been recently reseeded with grass and was spread with straw. I altered my path a bit so I wouldn't slip and bust my butt. This resulted in an uphill sprint for the last 10-15 meters.

Here is the workout:

6 rounds of 30 seconds at 50% speed alternated with 60 seconds walking.
6 rounds of 15 seconds at 75-90% speed alternated with 90 seconds walking.

Total distance for my intervals was 1.05 miles. I covered roughly the same distance on each leg of the intervals. I warmed up with a 0.3 mile, approximately 7 minute, uphill walk to my running spot. I cooled down with a 0.3 mile, approximately 9 minute, downhill walk back to the office.

I felt good running so hard in the second round of intervals. It was exhilarating and exhausting all at once. My right knee hurts a bit but I iced both knees down after hitting the showers. I felt a little extra soreness in right ankle, too. Unlike my distance runs, both calves were equally pumped instead of primarily my left calf. I think I did really well considering it's been fourteen days since my last sprint workout. I'm loving the entire Primal Blueprint Fitness approach.

Couch to 5K Week 4 Day 3

After one week off to let my knee tendonitis subside I resumed my 5K training today. I drove up to my son's elementary school and ran on the track.

Stage	Distance	Time	Pace
WU	417 yards	5:00	21:05
1	435 yards	3:00	12:08
1R	125 yards	1:30	21:03
2	700 yards	5:00	12:33
2R	192 yards	2:30	22:50
3	423 yards	3:00	12:28
3R	127 yards	1:30	20:46
4	682 yards	5:00	12:53
CD	359 yards	5:00	24:29
Total	1.53 miles	21:30	14:03
inc WU/CD	1.97 miles	31:30	15:59

I came very close to maintaining the same pace across both 3 minute intervals and both 5 minute intervals. I was off by 20 seconds on each of the second set of intervals. This run was far better than my last run. My right knee hurt a little bit. My left calf still gets my of a pump, more of a burn than my right calf. I wonder if how badly I tore up my right ankle 28 years ago has anything to do with those two symptoms.

Primal Blueprint Fitness Resumes

I took a full seven days off. I flared up tendonitis in my knees even with icing my knees after each run. So, back to working out today.

Warm up is 2 giant sets of the following exercises, five reps per exercise.

1. Lying Hip Extensions
2. Knee Push Ups
3. Stability Ball Leg Curls

The real work out was two giant sets of the following five exercises.

1. Knee Push Ups 25, 20
2. Pull Ups 17, 17
3. Wall Squats 20, 20
4. Elevated Jack Knife 25, 22
5. Knee-Hand Plank & Side Planks 45-30R-30L, 50-35L-35R

I lost a little from my Push Ups and Pull Ups, which was to be expected since it's been eleven days since my last PBF LHT workout. I held back on the Wall Squats so as not to flare up the knee tendonitis again. I actual did better on the Elevated Jack Knifes. Planks were so-so.

My nine year old son, MJB, worked out with me. He did great! Maybe next time both boys will work out with me. It's been a couple of weeks since my thirteen year old, CIB, worked out with me.

C25K Week 4 Day 2

Yesterday was more or less a day off. I just took four short walks during the day. I totaled thirty one minutes walking or 1.34 miles.

Today I ran in the early afternoon. It was sunny, but cold and windy. I ran on a field that's about a quarter mile around. It has a gentle slope from north to south, the long length of the field. There was also a gentle slope up from east to west on the north end of the field. With all my hill running of late I'll probably be strong for what is hopefully a mostly flat run in April, the Running Nerds 5K.

I got slower and slower with each interval. Here are my times:

Stage	Distance	Time	Pace
WU	404 yards	5:00	21:46
1	428 yards	3:00	12:18
1R	119 yards	1:30	22:07
2	647 yards	5:00	13:35
2R	195 yards	2:30	22:26
3	365 yards	3:00	14:25
3R	122 yards	1:30	21:32
4	598 yards	5:00	14:42
CD	289 yards	5:00	30:26
Total	1.41 miles	21:30	15:14
inc WU/CD	1.80 miles	31:30	17:27

You can check out a map of the run, too. I did some extra walking, about six minutes worth, to get to an even two miles. One of the things that slowed me down over the course of the run was my aching old knees.  My left knee, actually where the muscles attach just below the knee on the inside front of the shin ached more and more as I ran and walked.

I've been taking about 3 grams of fish oil a day to help with the joint pain, among other things. Today I bought a joint supplement but it takes seven days plus for new supplement to kick in. I should have done some research before buying today. Found some better supplements. I'll buy those next month. I'm hoping to stop taking Naproxen twice daily for all my aches and pains. One good thing about wearing my Vibram FiveFingers all day most days as well as for running is that my ankles, hips and lower back are not giving me troubles and pains. Only my knees are bothering me. Losing weight, in addition to the proper supplements, will help. I've pretty much eliminated inflammatory foods from my diet.

Couch 2 5K Week 4 Day 1

I almost talked myself out of running today. Left work late. Felt a little tired. Once I started running I was really lumbering. I felt like I was finally hitting my stride deep in my final interval but then my scheduled run was over.

The workout began with a five minute walking warmup. Then I did 3:00 minutes running followed by 1:30 minutes walking for the first interval. Next interval was 5:00 minutes running followed by 2:30 minutes walking. Then repeated that whole set, except RunDouble skips the last recovery walk and goes straight into the cool down. I wonder why? The cool down was a 5 minute walk.

I did this run on the Eastside High track as usual. Check out the map of my run.